In the Mood for Love

Foreign filmmakers always have a way of eroticizing almost everything in their work. It's just a peculiar knack among them.

Wong Kar-wai is one such name. His film In the Mood for Love sounds simple enough with its concept, but it's one film that packs more punch upon viewing.

In the Mood for Love isn't erotic in the sense there are steamy sex scenes. It's more so the longing desire between Chow (Tony Leung) and Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) that makes the film smolder with passion. What the film lacks with physical intimacy strives with emotional understanding.

The smaller aspects of the film work wonders, such as the color scheme and most definitely the music. The use of the Nat King Cole songs "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" and "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" showcases the feelings Chow and Li-zhen want to express but in a language foreign to them. There's also a haunting string piece that displays the contained desire between them.

In the Mood for Love depicts a complicated romance, one not shown often enough in film. It's a beautiful film, both physically and emotionally. Wong Kar-wai captures what so many try to do, which is showing one restraining an unrestrained love.

My Rating: *****

The Snake Pit

I've always liked Olivia de Havilland. She provides bouts of cheeriness in many of her films. However, I had only seen her in costume dramas (The Heiress, Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, My Cousin Rachel) so I wanted to see her in something more...contemporary.

I found that in the form of Anatole Litvak's The Snake Pit. As Virginia Cunningham, de Havilland shows the audience what she can do. What does she do? She showcases the fragility of the human mind.

The Snake Pit was a film that was way ahead of its time. Bear in mind this was decades before One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (a glimpse into life in a mental institution) and A Woman Under the Influence (a glimpse into life close to the breaking point). In fact, it paved the way in both Hollywood and real life with this subject.

de Havilland herself is an eye opener here. Gone are her performances as the quiet woman, and here is a part that has all engines running. She teeters on the brink of mental collapse, even when she's on the road to recovery. It almost comes as no surprise that some people had to be told she was acting.

The Snake Pit is a bit of a hard watch, but also a fascinating one. Litvak depicts a hell you can't even begin to imagine, and de Havilland is one of the unlucky occupants. A very bold film for its time.

My Rating: *****

Academy Award Winners

I didn't watch it, but there were a few moments that sounded amusing. And I wasn't bad at guessing...ish. Underlined means my prediction; bold means the winner.

BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse


BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McNeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse


BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.


BEST FILM EDITING
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball


BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet", The Muppets
"Real in Rio", Rio

BEST SCORE
The Adventures of Tintin
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse


BEST SOUND MIXING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse


BEST SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated


BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom


BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango


BEST SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
Dimanche
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life


BEST SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic


Number of right predictions: 12/24

Le Cercle rouge

The two main characters of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle rouge are both criminals. One is fresh out of jail, the other is on the run. Both are distant from any sense of emotion, but they both know how to calculate the perfect crime.

The newly released prisoner is Corey (Alain Delon). His expression never changes throughout the course of the film. He remains blank, devoid of anything. He possesses a permanent steely stare, surveying everyone and everything around him.

The escapee Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte), however, is the opposite of Corey. He's on edge, watching every move he makes. When it comes to planning the heist, he leaves all the work to Corey. He knows Corey knows what he's doing.

The curious thing about Le Cercle rouge is that Melville doesn't mention what crimes got Corey in jail and Vogel arrested. Not even a slight hint. What could it have been? Robbery? Kidnapping? Murder? Again, no one knows. That adds to the allure of the film.

Le Cercle rouge is very good. Not as great as Army of Shadows, but on a similar level. Again, Melville knew how to capture the criminal underworld, and this is solid proof.

My Rating: *****

Army of Shadows

Jean-Pierre Melville was an interesting sort of director. On the one hand, he knew how to depict the criminal lifestyle. (Or at least from what I've seen by him so far.) Yet on the other hand, there is that detached aura in his work.

Such is the case with Army of Shadows, perhaps Melville's most highly regarded work. We are introduced to an array of people yet we can't really develop feelings for any of them. This isn't a bad thing, mind you, but rather as a better way to grasp the story of it all.

But what is the story of Army of Shadows? There isn't one specific story but rather many of them. All of them have one major connection: the French Resistance, which Melville himself was a part of. The aura of detachment is also in affect here. Melville was detached by his country's government, so he put that feeling into his film.

Army of Shadows was released barely a year after the student riots of May 1968. (No surprise that the film wasn't much of a success in France.) The politics in the film and those on focus in the protests are one in the same. The power of the government becomes too much for its citizens, so they decide to fight back.

Army of Shadows is neither a history lesson nor a war film. Think of it more as Melville's memories of the Resistance. Also, those 144 minutes just fly by, just as any great film should.

My Rating: *****

Divorce, Italian Style

In a way, one can almost support Ferdinando (Marcello Mastroianni) during his plight of trying to dispose his wife. Can you blame him? His wife has become too overbearing after twenty years, and now he wants someone else in her place.

But alas, there is one tiny problem. Divorce doesn't exist in Italy. So what does Ferdinando think of? The next best thing: murder. Well, not exactly murdering her in cold blood. Something more complex.

Throughout Divorce, Italian Style, we watch Ferdinando plan out every small detail in getting rid of his wife. (He even imagines what his lawyer will say at his trial.) If one thing goes wrong, the whole ploy will fall apart.

What makes Divorce, Italian Style so witty is its script. It's laced with lines worthy of a Billy Wilder film. Ferdinando's observations on life and the society he's in shows he's bored with both, and longs for some change.

Divorce, Italian Style is a very amusing film. Mastroianni, whom I knew previously from weightier films (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Le notti bianche), is fun to watch. In all honesty, had Mastroianni not been in it and the script wasn't good, Divorce, Italian Style just wouldn't have worked.

My Rating: *****

Le Doulos

Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Doulos was probably one of the few early films that depicted lives both on the run and behind the badge. Of course, this was before Sidney Lumet depicted such lives.

The criminals take their sweet time in planning their crimes, making sure every detail works in the long run. But as we all know from countless crime movies, not everything pans out as it should.

On the flip side, the police have to be at the top of their game. After all throughout Le Doulos, sometimes the criminals are a step ahead of the police. The other times, however, the police know everything.

The switching from criminal to police is a nice touch. Decades before Martin Scorsese did such a thing with The Departed, Melville does a nice examination of both sides of the track. However, he does tend to focus on one more than the other.

Le Doulos is a fine portrait of the criminal life. It has its flaws, such as underdeveloped characters and a primary focus on violence. Still though, Melville shows his audience the very thin line between law breakers and law makers.

My Rating: ****1/2

Bob le Flambeur

We've heard of countless American directors naming those from foreign countries as influences. (Do the names Bergman and Fellini ring a bell?) What about the other way around?

In this case, it's Jean-Pierre Melville. He was an admirer of all things American. (His surname is, of course, in reference to the author of Moby Dick.) But what he loved most from American culture were its films, Howard Hawks and John Ford in particular.

Naturally, Melville's love of American film would contribute as an influence for his own work. Such is the case with Bob le Flambeur, which many consider the beginning of the French New Wave. The main character of Bob Montagne (Roger Duchesne) in a few early scenes wears a fedora and a trenchcoat in a similar manner to that of Humphrey Bogart. The use of seedy locales implicates that Melville had his fair share of film noir.

What makes Bob le Flambeur so interesting (and an influence on films in the years to come) is that it gives the audience time to learn of the characters' personalities. Only bits of the robbery's planning are shown throughout rather than showing the actual crime. Slick move to be honest.

Bob le Flambeur is very good, though it does feel slow in parts. However, one can pick up as to how both the film and Melville are now considered influences. That alone is worth a look.

My Rating: ****1/2

Happy-Go-Lucky

Poppy (Sally Hawkins), the protagonist of Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, is the kind of person one would encounter every now and again. You know, someone who has supposedly no worries in the world.

Of course, not everyone is enamored by Poppy's peppiness. They keep a form view on life while Poppy has a positive outlook, regardless of the situation.

Leigh provides a portrait of an average woman's everyday life. Poppy goes through her day with a smile practically glued on her face. You know the saying smile and the world smiles with you? Doesn't exactly apply to Poppy.

Indeed, Poppy's constant happiness does wear on after a while. It takes time to get used to it. Once you do, she is a nice presence in the film. A far cry from some of the characters in Leigh's other films, don't you think?

All in all, I liked Happy-Go-Lucky. Not as much as the other Leigh films I saw, but still as good. Hawkins is very lively and again, it's a nice change of pace from other films released in recent years.

My Rating: ****1/2

Vera Drake

We've all heard of those stories, the ones about people with ideal lives but also a dark side as well. We ourselves might have encountered such a person.

In the case of Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, it's that of the title character, played by Imelda Staunton. She's a hard-working woman, always caring about those around her. She helps those in need, including women who to rid of their unwanted, unborn children.

The scenes of Vera inducing miscarriages are hard to watch. They were also uncomfortable as well. They aren't the bloody gorefest one would expect. Vera opts for the cleaner solution. And surprisingly, Vera still keeps up with her cheerful demeanor.

Well, at least until the police catch up. That is when Vera completely falls apart. Perhaps she didn't think of the consequences after all this time. That is why her reaction to being found out is so devastating.

Vera Drake just sticks in your mind as you watch it. Not one scene feels false or out of place. (Not bad for a film made without a script.) One more note to mention. As raw and bold Hilary Swank was in Million Dollar Baby, the Oscar that year should have gone to Staunton.

My Rating: *****